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You've put your finger on a larger issue than boys vs. girls ... re: my comments at bottom. Bingo. Four years ago I'd just taken a troop that hadn't been to Camporee in over a decade. The PLC agreed to send one patrol as a "test", and our next-to-youngest patrol was registered. Our scouts took to heart the Campmaster's instruction to "enjoy the experience" and my ASM and I left them alone. Agreed, they weren't one-month-fresh, but they certainly were among the least prepared. This as opposed to other troops' patrols, which annually take the whole thing so seriously they hold "camp

Then I misunderstood what you meant when you said " the boys aren't just competing against girls, but the adults as well." And "no hope because I've never heard of a new scouts doing so well so fast ...  " Either the adults tipped the scales, or they did not. So, you don't believe they tipped the scales? Fine. We agree. If they did not, then these particular new scouts actually did well. They either did well because they are endowed with gifts that boys could never possess. Or, they are really excited about the program, and practiced hard and looked sharp for the big game. I choose to b

Was a representative from your Lodge present and running the election? As far as a Scout getting on the ballot who doesn't want to be elected, it happens. They are not actually part of the OA after election, they need to go through the Ordeal weekend within 1 year of election to be considered members. As far as there being "already OA" members, are they actually truly members? Or, were they elected last year and did not complete Ordeal?

I posted this in its own thread, but here is a news story about a large all-girls Troop in Wisconsin. It's a pretty nice article. It does refer to the girls paying attention and being enthusiastic about learning. That's not so bad. https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/mukwonago-home-to-one-of-nations-biggest-all-girls-scouts-bsa-troops

And maybe the girls were smart enough to realise there would be people that think like this and would re-double their efforts and be extra motivated to do well to prove them wrong. As it turns out, even if they did prove them wrong, those people belittling them would find another reason why it wasn't actually the girls efforts that got them where they are. Handy tip: If you're ever standing with my Explorers Scouts, don't ever refer to the girls as the weaker sex, they would...not be impressed.

Um, wow! OK, well breathe a sigh of relief that nobody was hurt. Who owns the property? If this were my Scout, I would think that an apology to the property owner and possibly some kind of restitution for damaging the field. If no restitution is required, service hours. Revocation of the Scout's “Firem’n Rights” until some future time. Must go through the Firem'n Chit training again. These are the bare minimum that I can think of off the top of my head. What the Scout did was very unsafe, the Scout could have gotten hurt or hurt other people, and could have done serious damage to prope

Wisconsin has the best town names.

My daughter is 4, going on 5 this year, and she's skipping the Lion year. I don't see the point of it, and it will only contribute to burnout, possibly hers, more likely mine. Maybe this is a little selfish, but I don't want to learn the Lion program and end up running it, which I will since I'm already a DL and I'm sure I'll get pulled into that role in the Lion den too. So I'd rather just skip that whole year. And I doubt my daughter will miss much. I doubt my son would have missed much skipping Tiger, and half of his Wolf den was first-year scouts, many who had older siblings and knew

Hello, This summer I will be working as Paid Camp Staff for the first time (Camp Kern, CA). I was asking to see if the forum had advice for me and all new Camp Staff (what to bring, what not to bring, compensation, etc.). Additionally, I thought it would be kinda cool to hear everyone’s stories from there time on staff Thanks

Most fun job I've ever had. Also lowest paying, but I'm glad I staffed camp and still keep in touch with fellow staff members. Just enjoy it, make new friends. Get enough SLEEP. It is a job and the campers are paying for camp, not the Walking Dead: Staff edition. Bring your own snacks, camp food loses what appeal it has after a week or so. Know the material for the badges you teach. Make them as fun and active as you can. Try to get the scouts doing stuff. Have a great summer!

I spent two years at my local summer camp. Besides what you can bring, just be open and take it all in. Those two summers truly are the best two summers of my life (so far). Meet new people, get to know the personalities behind the staff members that you've seen for years. While it is a job and those scouts are there for merit badges, remember to talk to them just like normal people. Have conversations with them, if you see them around camp say hi. Create memories for yourself with your new family, but it's a great feeling when the scouts attending camp take time between their sessions t

I just don't see the issue. New patrols can very easily win a camporee competition ... if they prepare and are motivated. The SM should always be inspiring and encouraging the scouts to grow. But that's different than always setting the direction and the specifics. The skill is knowing how much, how far and which direction. Inspiring a four year patrol to win a camporee can often alienate scouts. Camporee competitions are good for scouts in their first few years. After that, it's a been-there-done-that situation. So then we look for the next growth opportunity. Adult lead

My kids found the following things helpful sometimes indispensable while camp staffing for 4 summers. They had the time of their lives at camp. Daughter is staffing Philmont PTC this year and son is staffing a snowboard camp on Mt. Hood. You never know where a camp staff job will lead. Have a great summer. Large plastic tote boxes with tight/snap on lid - keeps stuff clean/dry and reduces critters in your snacks battery alarm clock - cell phones don't always charge or stay charged, have a back up phone charging brick - for above, you can get them cheap and cheap ones work

@chief027 welcome to scouter.com. Thanks for adding tags to your topic. I'll launch some flares here to members who come to mind. I am sure there are many more with camp staff experience here. @desertrat77 @WAKWIB @bob_kins @Eagle94-A1 @Sentinel947

Good morning everyone! My name is Aaron and I have been volunteering either in cubs or boy scouting for the last six years. Currently, I am an Assistant Scoutmaster, assistant Cubmaster and on our council's High Adventure committee. I have two son's ages 14 and 7 who are both active in scouting. Somehow, I just stumbled on to your forums today. I look forward to some time spent here with you fine folks!

Hey! I am currently a scout, and I have worked at a summer camp last year and this summer as well. Highest Suggestion: Don’t bring your footlocker, go to Walmart and buy one of those plastic drawers to keep your clothes in. Trust me, I’m getting one this year. Make sure to bring a backpack with you as you will be on the move, depending on the program area you are in. I was in the first year scout program, so I was always on the move. What program area are you going to be in? Do you have to come home each week due to being under 18? (If you are under 18)

They are the newcomers., the rookies, to the game of Scouting.

Who doesn't like a story of a group of underdogs working hard and winning the contest? Miracle on Ice , Hoosiers, 1960 Pirates, ...

I'm confused. Were they not on the ballot? If they were, all they would need was for half the scouts to vote for them. There's no limit to the number of candidates a scout can vote for, so the scouts who didn't get elected need to learn what it was that made more than half their fellow scouts conclude that they were not worthy.

Precisely. If a kid gets voted in but doesn't want to be in OA, all he has to do is just not go through the Ordeal. But then, if he later decides he wants to be in OA, he'd have to get voted in a second time.

We have CCS tarps in 4 different colors and each patrols has their gear color coded. We set these up at every campout so the scouts can practice their knots. At the end of each campout they untie all guy lines and remove all taut line, bowline and 2 half hitches. Then the next month they tie the knots again. This allows the scouts to learn and demonstrate the practicle uses of each knot. As a side note CCS does provide a scout discount and the many tabs provided allow for many different ways to set up the dining fly.

The boys in the district where the new patrol bested them, had the opportunity to contend with some real first class scouts (patch not withstanding). They now have the opportunity to step up their game. Obviously I think @Eagledad's assumption that someone rigged the scoring to favor a particular sex is profoundly flawed. I think any new troop of scouts, be they immigrants or minority groups, have a lot going in their favor. They've stepped in from the outside and are gun-ho for something they can master while other patrols have taken for granted that everyone else in the district slacks

Our Pack does that as a dinner option but it often gets mixed reviews. I love it, especially when we do chili in the bags. Hot chili over chips is great. But there are always a few parents (especially newer ones) who won't even try it and think we're barbarians trying to feed their kids dinner out of a Doritos bag. 😅 The funny thing is our Pack does incredible food and the taco bags are just one option. We've done steak, potatoes, dutch oven deserts, all kinds of delicious stuff. The joke is that we often eat better in camp than at home. But somehow the taco bag is what people remember an

I think we're all reading too much into this. I cannot really draw any significant conclusions here until I know what the competitions were. For all I know, this competition had more to do with preparation and effort than it did Scout skills. If this had more to do with effort, preparation, and energy I'd probably be surprised if some troops for girls didn't do well. They are probably running very high on enthusiasm right now. I say this fully acknowledging that there are certainly adults who are very motivated to make sure the new troops for girls are ultimately successful. I

I have to wonder though. As adults we tend to worry about things like political discussions. But, perhaps it's good for Scouts to share their political views with one another and learn that within a group of friends one some can wear Hope t-shirts and some MAGA hats. Isn't learning to work together as a patrol despite whatever their political views are an aspect of the patrol method?

Here's a news story about all-girls Troop 229 https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/mukwonago-home-to-one-of-nations-biggest-all-girls-scouts-bsa-troops?fbclid=IwAR0KD4Hau1YLJSIR2b2SkpyA4vZo3wjV6qPGreAuYfQII0ZiO4UjynyJAxY

Hey now, I loved the red beret & still have one that I occasionally wear with my 70's green uniform.

Well explained, willray. The navigation system in a car uses GPS, but it is not the same as a handheld unit that can give you a specific set of coordinates describing your position on the planet. Unfortunately, the whole topic of navigation is not well understood by most scouters. Even basic map and compass skills bewilder many leaders, never mind asking them to explain how to read a topographic map. I would like to see a good navigation class offered at my local University of Scouting. Lord knows I'm bored senseless by all the bureaucratic nonsense about the politically corre

not so, Pack are youngsters more geared to family scouting, pack leaders more responsible for the meals, for the scouts and for the parents. many times theres cabin and whole lot more gear, leaders planning meals for 10-40 people, pack outing utilize cabins, refrigerators, coolers, etc troop, they are on their own, older scouts should be teaching the younger scouts about camp meals, food and equipment should comfortably fit in their packs to hike to the site. patrol really shouldn't be more than 10 or so scouts,

I had a girl troop last weekend at the camporee I was a planner for. They were full uniformed, excellent attitudes and were within the top three scores on every event. They also knocked it out of the park on the other optional point items and took home top troop of the district for the event. Definitely a big thumbs up from me on girls in scouting.

The NPR program “A1” broadcast today was a generally balanced one hour discussion. The BSA National executive who appeared shared that we now have 1,800 all girl troops, which sounds good to me. This is definite evidence of 2 things: we have a program that is clearly relevant to and demanded by girls and we still have a splendid National organization that can execute on important priorities in an effective manner. Things to be very proud of.

@ScoutMom45036, welcome to the forums! A couple of son #2's best buddies had anxiety issues ... maybe related to divorce, but usually it was more complicated than that. If the boy's telling you he's nervous about it now, it's a good indication that giong "cold turkey" wont work. Our troop has welcomed moms like you with kids like yours to come camp with us adults. You're not the problem mom who we generally worry about. Generally, you're good company, and you're not hovering over your son. You get to know the leaders and other parents and catch them up on the things your son is going

Go with him! Go with him and make some memories. At camp, don't let him velcro to you, he can go off with the other Scouts but see you back for whenever the adult leaders and youth are in proximity -- meals? (I don't know, I have not been to summer camp yet). But be there, but when you are there he has his own schedule and stuff, and you have your own stuff. Talk to the counselor and the Scoutmaster about it. Your son should be working with his patrol leader and that kid will be the point person for your son at camp, NOT you. I hope that helps! After his first time he

This does not surprise me at all. The Boy Scouts or Scouts BSA, or whatever they want to be called, have lost their way and might as well just open it up all the way. Take God out of the oath, allow atheists and/or anyone with a desire to fork over the membership dues to join. Adults should be allowed to earn the Eagle Scout Award just like the youth, requirements should be lifted and it should be a participation award. This comes from the thoughts of a former professional scouter and a family of Eagle Scouts. I am currently a COR as well and that will be cut short very soon.

we have made taco in a bag. you purchase the small doritos bags. a couple of families buy ground beef and then others can be assigned onions, sour cream, cheese, lettuce. tomatos ect. the meat can even be prepared ahead of time and just warm it up or just bring some skillets and prepare it. i just crush the bags up after opening so the chips are small then top it with what you like. clean up is so easier since the bag is your dish and you just throw it away.

I was at the camp-o-ree in question this last weekend. There was one all girl troop there that won first place in almost everything, the troop that they were linked to I think got a 2nd and a 3rd place ribbon, they did not do well at all. The scoring was kept secret and bonus points were given for having "scout spirit" and "not giving up". There were two events that the boys in my troop thought they did the very best at and did not even place in and they got ribbon for things that they know they failed at and did not deserve a ribbon for. The boys in my troop are very unh

Yep, witnessed this myself at our Council's annual adult training event. For some reason the adults putting on the event feel the need to do a skit at the start of the program every year. Last year's skit was set at a pinewood derby. The adults playing the boys were acting like buffoons. The only actual Cub Scout on the stage was a female Webelos Scout. The dialog in the skit went something like this: Cubmaster: Mary, it looked like you were praying before the race. Were you praying to win? Mary: No. Cubmaster: What were you praying for? Mary: That the boys won't cry

Maga hats are both a partisan political prop and are a symbol of white supremacy. I would instantly drop from any unit that allowed them.